Saturday, November 21, 2015

Okinawan Folktale: Legend of the Monk and Okukubi River

Note:
Similar versions of this story, first appeared in Stars and Stripes
November 2015.

Editorial
and layout requirements, made the signs, unreadable for Japanese
followers.

It
is my hope, that educators may be able, to print and distribute this
version to students.

Feel
free, to use the article as a travel guide or handout for language
classes.

The
text and images, may not be sold or, reused online, without authorized licensing.

Photographs
and text by Michael Lynch

Translated
by Mami Sakiyama

A
Shipwrecked Monk

Early
in 1500, a Buddhist monk was on his way to
China, when he was shipwrecked.The
wreckage of his ship was adrift at beachin
Kin Village of Okinawa. A local, saw the wooden craft and rescued the priest, who barely survived the ordeal. The young man, using
his own lunch made some rice gruel . The monk, recovered
quicklyafter
he ate the meal. He stood up and took a looking towards the ocean
shouted,"Hokorashayamina!”

After
a short time, the monk asked the young man for something to drink.
The youngster took him to a spring on the outskirts of the village.
When the monk drank a sip of the fresh water, he shivered and said
"How delicious this is! You could make an excellentgreen tea with this
refreshing spring water." He
taught
the method of making tea, to
his young savior.

Monk and Young Man

The
Buddhist regained composure and started talking about what had
happened to him. The youth became tense, as he discovered the monk
held the high position of Nisshu Shonin. The monk told the
lad,”Please don't be nervous. You are my lifesaver. Feel free to
let me do something foryou
in return.". But, the young man said, " I don't expect
anything from you. I just did what I needed to do as a person. If I
were to venture a favor, I would love to have a surname given by
you."

The
monk asked him what kind of surname he wantedto
have and the young man said, " There is the river called Hijaga
at the foot of the other side of the mountain. It has nourished many
people from generation to generation. Iwould
be very honored to be givena
name related tothat
river." The Buddhist monk started chanting and said, " Your
surname is Higa from now on. This name will bring you a lot of
happiness. Please use it proudly."

Origins of Fukka and Saga

The story
about the Buddhist monk and the young man was spread by the locals
and, they began calling the beach (where the monk had been adrift )
Fukka (福花= flowers
of good fortune) and the spring Saga (茶川
= green
tea river) named after the legend of the monk.

Saga
Spring became
famous for its delicious water, utilized in making green tea. Word
of this tasty tea spread throughout the island. When royal officials
from Shuri Castle came to Kin, many of them would visit the spring.

Village Inhabitants

The
monk wanted to do something for the people who helped him and treated
him so well. He had extensive knowledge about agriculture, so he
taught the natives (who only knew farming learned from experience)
how till the land using the most efficient methods and, showed them
the most advanced technology for the cultivation of crops.

Thanks
to the Buddhist Monk's guidance, they hada
bountiful harvestand
the villageprospered
for a long time. Because of the surprising results of his guidance,
some locals recited, "White sand turned into rice!" Many
people considered the monk to be a"Kaminchu"
which is a godly person.Then,
terrible things began to happen in the community...

Local Girl and Handsome Boy

One
moonlit night, a good-looking stranger showed up. He awoke the most
beautiful girl in the village with his fascinatingvoice. She was
tempted by his handsome features and followed him as, if she were in
a trance.

A
boy,who
hada
crush on the charming girl,hidand followedin the darkness. He
saw them walking arm in arm as if they had been dating for a long
time. He wished to keep the beautiful girl away from the handsome
boy. Suddenly, the air was filled with smoke and, the handsome boy
turned into a huge serpent.

The
snake coiled around her body, so she couldn't run away, and they
disappearedinto
a cave.

Transforming Serpent

As legend goes, the
snake was living in the cave and eating livers of human beings,
especially, youthful charming virgins and, the villagers became
frightened. At the river that leads to the cave, many young girls who
went to draw water had been attacked by the snake. The serpent also
wreaked havoc on the farm products of the village so, the locals
tried not to get near the cave or river. After no one had been
attacked for a long time, people began to believe maybe, it had
died.

The villagers still
kept away from the river and the cave and refused to grow farm
products around that area because of the serpent. The devious
vermin, once again, began transforming into a handsome boy and
started sneaking in people's houses in the hamlet.

Monk Banishes Snake

Once
villagers learned of beautiful young girls being kidnapped, they
couldn't sleep well nights and stopped going outside. They feared
being eaten by the snake or, worried their daughters might be
kidnapped by it. The
monkbecame
concernedabout
the villagers and,
when he
visited them,noticed
they were hiding their daughters and crying. He decided, some action
would be required to stop the terror.

At
the cavern entrance, the Buddhist chanted an incantation to seal
snake inside forever. Since then, nobody got attacked by the snake.
And,the
village began to prosper again.

Mami Sakiyama is an aspiring photojournalist, teaching English in Onna-son, Okinawa, Japan

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